Honor and Confession

With Jacob’s permission to send his precious second son of Rachel, Joseph’s brothers departed Canaan.  Continuing our series, Joseph: A Life With Many Colors,

Genesis 43:15 So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph.  16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.”  17 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house.

18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.”

Deprived of independence and ending up as a slave would seem to be perfect justice for men who had sold their brother into slavery.  So, they confess.

19 So they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.  20 “We beg your pardon, our lord,” they said, “we came down here the first time to buy food.  21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver– the exact weight– in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us.  22 We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.”

The steward must have smiled at the unnecessary confession.  Didn’t these men know they were about to be honored?

Genesis 43:23 “It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

Think about it:

• In the flow of the story, all the brothers know is that the man who spoke harshly demanded and summoned the precious brother and favorite son of Jacob (now that Joseph is “no more”).  Their guard is up because they know what they had to do to get Benjamin to come with them.  They are girded with apprehension.  How might this explain their desire to confess and fail to see the honor being prepared?
• The steward’s statement that their father’s God has given them treasure must have been confusing on many different levels.  What might some of those be?
• Have you ever been so worried that you couldn’t see the honor or blessing in front of you?
• How can fear stand in the way of our seeing the storehouse of blessing ahead?  “For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; … Do not be afraid, for I am with you;  Isaiah 43:3,5